Therion – Gothic Kabbalah Review


Website: Therion

How can one describe Therion’s sound? Considering it changes and broadens from album to album — leaving some fans behind while acquiring new ones — to say the very least, it’s complicated. Evolving to eventually include a full orchestra, tales from Scandinavian folklore, and a wide cast of operatic vocalists, it’s as though nothing is too wide in scope for Therion. The two discs of Gothic Kabbalah continue the tradition of their previous dual-disc effort, Lemuria/Sirius B, while diving even deeper into complex composition.

Now if only Therion could concentrate on focusing their diversity.

Gothic Kabbalah is an amalgamation of guest vocalists and a wide range of instrumentation. While it never loses its epic feel, there’s a lack of consistency mainly due to vocalists with very different styles and methods of attacking the songs. The direction bounces from flowing and melodic to harsh and extreme, but not always in onjunction with the singers. The title track feels well-written, and “The Falling Stone” keeps to one dynamic, but there’s a bit of mix and match among the lot. “Son of the Staves of Time” is one of the many highlights of what grandiosity results when the band gets it right; “Adulruna Redivivia”, on the other hand, is teeming with brilliance all slammed together into one disjointed mess. Given the two-disc length, it’s surely that a few sub-par songs were left for need of filler.

There’s much pleasantry and admirable musicianship throughout Gothic Kabbalah, but the length may simply be too much for the vision of the album. There’s a time to step back and strip things down, and hopefully Therion realizes this for their next album.